Revocation of the audible: Why did Lazor take away Tanny's ability to audible?

[broccoli rob]

The article on NFL.com caught my interest like most on FH when I read Tannehill can't audible. I started looking into this and two things are certain:

1) Tannehill does not have an intelligence issue with learning the playbook or the offense.

2) Tannehill had the ability to audible in his first two years. Lazor took away it away.

Tannehill, the son of a coach, has more than football smarts. At Big Spring (Texas) High School he had a 4.0 grade-point average and ranked third in his class of 230. He had a 3.6 GPA at Texas A&M with a major in biology and a minor in business. Tannehill, who wants to be a surgeon, also fulfilled his pre-med requirements.

Tannehill reportedly scored an impressive 34 (on a scale of 50) on the pre-draft Wonderlic aptitude test. The Dolphins obviously weighed that, but coach Joe Philbin said Tannehill’s classroom abilities didn’t factor heavily into the team’s decision to draft him eighth overall last April.

When Tannehill was 16, he tore the meniscus in his left knee. He became so intrigued with the details of the ensuing surgery that he was inspired to plan a medical career.
Tannehill said his current career goal is to “play for 15 years,” but his long-term goal is still to become an orthopedic surgeon specializing in knee injuries.

Tannehill’s brain power was evident from the start of minicamp in May, when he started using the playbook that Sherman brought along from Texas A&M. In a drill during an early practice, Tannehill was flashing hand signals to rookie receiver Jeff Fuller – also an A&M grad – that the coaches had not yet taught to the other receivers.

The offensive coaches who weren’t from A&M were floored that Tannehill could read the defense, know where to go with the ball and signal the adjustment to Fuller in his first week as an NFL quarterback.
“You could tell he was a bright guy,” Philbin said.

Philbin and Sherman were allowing Tannehill to audible from his rookie year due to his "evident brain power". check out this next quote:

The Dolphins have already taken advantage of that even though Tannehill has played only five games. They often go to the line of scrimmage with two plays — often a run and a pass — and leave it up to Tannehill to select the right play and dictate the blocking assignments based on his read of the defense.Bush estimated that Tannehill makes some kind of check at the line of scrimmage on about a third of the snaps.
“He’s just on the money with his in-game adjustments,” Martin said. “It’s really impressive. I’m a rookie myself, and I know it’s tough to make decisions like that, so I can’t imagine being a quarterback and having to do that.”

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/s...f-the-operation-ryan-tannehills-smarts/nSb3L/

From at least the 5th game of the season, the Fins were allowing Tannehill to audible out of a pass or run. Not Peyton Manning-like audibles, but certainly a start.

Tannehill's power only grew in his rookie season as he was reportedly one of the players to lose confidence in Mike Sherman in year 2, eventually using his power to audible out of a lot of Sherman's plays.

Immediately after the loss to the Jets, Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reported that several Dolphins players believed offensive coordinator Mike Sherman "will and should be gone." Today, NFL.com has published a report by Ian Rapoport claiming that quarterback Ryan Tannehill has told people close to him that he's lost faith in offensive coordinator Mike Sherman.

I saw Ryan Tannehill audible more frequently last game than he had in prior weeks. Some QBs like Peyton Manning run no-huddle offensive systems in which the QB is in charge of signaling the playcall with audibles before most plays. However, the Dolphins became a huddle-heavy team this year after being among the most frequent users of the no-huddle offense in the NFL last year. That philosophy change explains why Tannehill had audibled less frequently this season compared to last season. A quarterback who receives playcalls with teammates in the huddle has less time to spend at the line of scrimmage with everybody (including the defense) lined up before the playclock runs out. That gives a QB less time to audible to certain plays based on what he sees. I haven't rewatched the game against the Jets yet, but at the time, I thought Tannehill was noticeably changing playcalls more frequently, which could be a sign that he had grown frustrated with Sherman's playcalls.

http://www.thephinsider.com/2013/12...-among-players-who-lost-confidence-in-oc-mike


This isn't a question of "why can't Tannehill audible?", its "why can't Tannehill audible anymore?".

If Lazor trusts Tannehill to run the read option plays, why doesn't he let him control the others?

 

[Krateness]

I wish I had the answer because this raises more questions to an already long list of questions.

If I had to throw something out it would probably be due to Lazor's prior experience in Philly. Nick Foles coming in for an injured Vick on the fly just giving him 2 plays to choose from in either a run or a pass. Nick Foles excels and that becomes the system.

Truth be told I have no idea. I don't know why you would take away the ability to audible since his reads on the option are usually pretty good...

 

[roy_miami]

I knew Tannehill had the ability to audible, because Sherman threw him under the bus for the deep ball against the Jets in OT and the sack/strip/turnover in the Bills game. Though, to be fair, I don't know how many times he audibled to get us into good plays to help win a game, Sherman never mentioned those. I miss Sherman and his gaffes.

---------- Post added at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 PM ----------

I wish I had the answer because this raises more questions to an already long list of questions.

If I had to throw something out it would probably be due to Lazor's prior experience in Philly. Nick Foles coming in for an injured Vick on the fly just giving him 2 plays to choose from in either a run or a pass. Nick Foles excels and that becomes the system.

Truth be told I have no idea. I don't know why you would take away the ability to audible since his reads on the option are usually pretty good...

Isn't that kind of like an audible? Isn't that what our entire offense is based on, his reads dictate where the ball is to go? Isn't that the reason we use so much motion just before the ball is snapped?

 

[Krateness]

Isn't that kind of like an audible? Isn't that what our entire offense is based on, his reads dictate where the ball is to go? Isn't that the reason we use so much motion just before the ball is snapped?

I believe it to be a form of an audible. When Tannehill is on the read and chooses to keep the ball, he is the only one who knows. Otherwise he just hands it off and no one is the wiser. An actual audible requires everyone to be familiar with the change before the ball is snapped.

Just my take on it.

 

[juniorseau55]

I wish I had the answer because this raises more questions to an already long list of questions.

If I had to throw something out it would probably be due to Lazor's prior experience in Philly. Nick Foles coming in for an injured Vick on the fly just giving him 2 plays to choose from in either a run or a pass. Nick Foles excels and that becomes the system.

Truth be told I have no idea. I don't know why you would take away the ability to audible since his reads on the option are usually pretty good...

The read option wouldn't be considered an audible. The read option is just a play is not even an offense. The dolphins don't use it as much as people claim they do. They have gone in some drives without using it. An audible is adjusting routes and coverage on the line, and calling a different play. Changing an assignment of a specific player.

 

[juniorseau55]

For those who don't know or still don't know the read option is a play found in an option set of an offensive playbook if there is any. The offensive line zone blocks a specific direction while disregarding the defense. The qb makes a single read which is usually an uncovered linebacker or edge rusher defensive end etc which at times is left uncovered to draw the player in. So if the defender is keying on the qb the qb decides to hand it off, and if the defender doesn't key on the qb he decides to pass. So to sum it up, the read option is simply a single read play like any option play except that there are a few differences such as recognizing the key defender and how the offensive line executes the play from a blocking stand point.

 

[SCLSU Mud Dogs]

Maybe I didn't read everything, but where does it say he can't audible in this current offense? All I'm seeing is that he had the power to audible in Sherman's offense.